From free pastures to penned in: The within-person effects of psychological reactance on side-hustlers’ hostility and initiative in full-time work.

Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol 108(12), Dec 2023, 1979-1997; doi:10.1037/apl0001115Multiple jobholding is increasingly common, particularly among full-time employees who have adopted side-hustles—income-generating work from the gig economy that is performed alongside full-time work. A distinguishing feature of side-hustles is substantial autonomy in the work’s timing, location, and method. This autonomy has typically been portrayed as beneficial. We shift this consensus by developing a within-person model that suggests elevated side-hustle autonomy—relative to what is typical for that person—sets the employee on a course to feel “boxed in” by their full-time job. Drawing on psychological reactance theory, we argue that elevated autonomy in a side-hustle sensitizes employees to threats that restrict their control. As these employees shift to full-time work, we theorize that this sensitivity is associated with feelings of hostility that contribute to counterproductive behavior. We also propose, however, that side-hustle autonomy has benefits for full-time work—motivating employees to reassert control through increased initiative, thereby enhancing task performance. We explore the countervailing relationships between side-hustle autonomy and full-time work outcomes with a daily experience sampling study (ESM) of 101 full-time employees with side-hustles and their coworkers (Study 1) and a weekly ESM study of 100 full-time employees with side-hustles (Study 2). ...
Source: Journal of Applied Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research